The friend who witnessed Michael Brown’s death was shot and killed Sunday morning less than a mile from where a police officer killed Brown.
The Ferguson Police Department confirmed Dorian Johnson died of injuries sustained during the shooting that occurred around 8:30 a.m. Sunday on the 9600 block of Abaco Court.
The location of the shooting is just 15 minutes away by foot from where Ferguson officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Brown on Canfield Drive.
Ferguson Police Public Information Officer Patricia Washington said police took one person into custody in relation to the shooting on Sunday.
That person was released within a maximum 24-hour hold without criminal charges filed, said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith said in a statement on Monday.
“This appears to be a domestic incident involving a claim of self-defense that is being investigated,” Price Smith wrote, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
Washington said Sunday that earlier rumors that the shooting involved police were not true.
Johnson witnessed the fatal shooting of Brown in August 2014. The two were stopped by Wilson for walking in the middle of the street. Johnson spoke at a memorial on the 10th anniversary of Brown’s death last year.
After Brown’s killing, Johnson unsuccessfully filed suit alleging that Wilson illegally stopped and used excessive force on the pair. An appeals court dismissed the suit in 2019.
Posts mourning Johnson filled social media on Sunday.
This story has been updated with a statement from the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney.
